Off On The "Thorny Path" South

Abrahams Bay, Mayaguana, Bahamas
22 19.7N 73 01.7W

We joined a convoy of boats leaving George Town on Thursday, about 20 having an informal race to Long Island and another 20 bound for the Dominican Republic. For many the trip to the DR is their first sail in the ocean, and this combined with the need to get a good weather window means everyone leaves at once.

The first leg for the cruisers was a great sail to Conception Island and as there were 20 boats going it also turned into a race. Matsu was in great form eating up the miles and we placed very respectably - first in our opinion!

The next morning most of the boats left for the DR, we chose a different approach based on our read of the weather forecast, so we stayed for the day snorkeling on the superb stag head coral formations and enjoying the beach and the water, before leaving on Saturday morning.

We had anticipated having to motor the whole way to Mayaguana, but the wind ended up doing us proud and we had excellent sailing for well over half the time. No events of great note except for hooking a marlin on our fishing gear! We heard the reel screaming and went back to put the brake on, which sent the fish into a frenzy and we were witness to the classic "Fishing Adventures" film clip of a marlin leaping out of the water doing back flips and tail dances as it gradually stripped all the line off the reel, before with a final jump it broke the line and left us relieved that we hadn't had to work out how to land a fish bigger than either of us!

Sadly the weather window has closed up quicker than the forecast so we will now be here for a few days to a week waiting for the next one to get further on, meanwhile the boats that left a day earlier are already there (but we got to eat lobster for dinner!). We have two options, hopping from here to the Turks and Caicos, or heading out to sea for a dog leg route into the trades and going directly to the DR, either way we hope to be in Luperon next week some time.

"Chicken Harbour"

Georgetown, Exumas, Bahamas
23 30.7N 75 44.6W

We are safely anchored in George Town at the southern end of the Exumas chain of islands. We have really enjoyed the Exumas, clear water, great fishing and white sand, plus we have been lucky with the weather and not had too many cold fronts sweeping down from the States so it has been warm and sunny and we have been able to find sheltered anchorages easily despite the 7'6" keel.

George Town is very different from the uninhabited Cays of the rest of the chain. With a great natural harbour, superb beaches and a small town, with by Bahamian standards good shops, it is the final destination for many cruisers. Many boats spend 4 months here playing volleyball on the beach, socialising etc and then returning north once the snow has melted to resume land based life. Others spend weeks here agonising about going further but never do - hence the moniker "Chicken Harbour" and hopefully we are part of the other group of cruisers, the ones that use it as a staging post prior to the big trip to the Virgin Islands.

At the moment there are well over 100 boats here, and by April that will have swelled to 300-400 boats, thankfully we will be gone by then! That said we are enjoying socialising with lots of boats we met earlier on in the islands and even in the USA earlier in the year, and it certainly beats renting a condo in Florida for winter like many other Americans and Canadians do.

I have said for a long time that Linda and I should live somewhere where they speak French so I can finally get fluent, the trouble is Canada is cold, so we have never done it. We have now found the place, the Bahamas! - about 40% of the boats are from Quebec so for the last 2 months I have spoken more French than English!

We hope to set off this week bound for the Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic and then on to Puerto Rico, it's about 1,000 miles of sailing and sadly nearly all upwind, so there will be lots of waiting for weather before hopping on to the next place. This means we have ample excuse to sit in George Town sipping drinks with other cruisers discussing weather windows, routes and destinations, which when combined with games of volleyball, soft ball and getting the boat ready for the voyage leaves us very "busy".

Swimming Pigs & Bond Sets

Big Majors Cay, Exumas
24 11.0N 76 27.6W

Well now I've seen it all! The Cay here has four pigs on it and as you approach in the dinghy they swim out to meet you in anticipation of being fed you food scraps, the big brown hog has on occassion swum out 50m plus to meet us, and will try and get in your dinghy if you let him.

We also got to snorkel Thunderball Cave, scene of the famous underwater fight in James Bond - strangely we found a snorkel there, how do you lose one without noticing, other than by being attacked by one of Blofeld's henchmen?

A beautiful place to snorkel, no fishing allowed so lots of big fish, and you swim right into the cave so see deep blue holes everywhere where it opens to the sea, you can snorkel down and swim out popping up in the ocean again and then back in for hours on end, the current got too strong before we got bored, so heading back for a second go today!

The Exumas - Paradise Found

Warderick Wells, Exumas
24 23.0N 76 38.0 W

Happy New Year!

We are currently sheltering from some very strong winds, which is hard for us here as our keel is too deep for all the good anchorages, but we have found a comfortable spot and are catching up on reading as we can't get in the dinghy!

So the last few weeks have basically been paradise, cruising slowly down the Exumas chain, snorkeling, lazing on the beach, swimming in clear water and catching a few lobster to eat - we aren't joking that has been life!

We had one engine problem but found a man with a welder and got that sorted out, so all well.

Allan's Cay just north of here was interesting, it has a large population of iguanas living there that run out to meet you expecting feeding, as well as excellent snorkeling and lobster hunting.

The next few weeks hold more of the same, it is about 100 miles to Georgetown which will for us mark the end of the Bahamas as we will leave from there for our trip to Puerto Rico, island hopping but also making the most of every weather window.